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Thinking about Jesus Christ

“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Matthew 11:27 NIV

The last section of “Biblical Ethics” in The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers is a series of articles, each beginning with “How to Think about....” My reading today is the second of the series: “How to Think about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Here are some of the things Chambers has to say:

He is the only medium God has for revealing Himself.

He became Incarnate for the great purpose of lifting the human race back into communion with God....

Living much in the presence of Jesus, coming in contact with His mind, simplifies life to a believer, and makes him an unflurried sceptic of everything that is not true to the nature of God.*

Interestingly, one of the chief topics of talks by Dan Rutherford at Star Lake this summer was about knowing the truth of who Jesus is. He used 1 John (the whole book) as his text and asked us to see what John had to say about Jesus, so I started going through 1 John to write down everything I could find about Jesus. I didn’t make it to the end of the book, but here is what I wrote:

Jesus existed from the beginning

Jesus is tangible—he had been seen and heard and touched

Jesus is the Word of life

Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah

Jesus is life

Jesus is from God

Jesus is life from God

Jesus was shown to the disciples

Jesus is eternal life

Jesus was with the Father

Jesus was with the Father before he was shown to mankind

Jesus is someone we can fellowship with—he’s relational

Jesus is the Son of the Father

Jesus is a source of joy

Jesus lives in the light of God’s presence

Jesus gave the apostles a message to announce to Christians

Jesus’ blood cleanses us from every sin—when we live in the light of God’s presence

Jesus is faithful

Jesus is just

Jesus forgives when we confess our sins

Jesus cleanses us from every wrong when we confess our sins

It is because of Jesus’ faithfulness and his justice that he forgives and cleanses us from every wrong when we confess our sins

Jesus speaks to the Father

Jesus speaks to the Father in our defense when anybody sins

Jesus is the Righteous One

Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins

Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world.

Jesus has commands

Jesus’ commands are to be obeyed by his followers

Jesus is obeyed only by those who know him

Jesus is obeyed only by those who have the truth in them

Jesus makes the Father’s love complete in those who obey his word

Jesus completes those who obey his word

Jesus can live in us

Jesus walked the way that we must walk when we claim to live in him

Jesus is he in whom we can be

In Jesus is seen the truth of a new command

Jesus is the true light

Jesus, as the true light, is already shining

Jesus’ name is the reason our sins are forgiven Jesus was from the beginning

Jesus is the Holy One

Jesus gives us an anointing

Jesus is the Christ

Jesus is denied by the antichrist

Jesus is tied to the Father—unbelief in him indicates absence of the Father

Belief in Jesus indicates presence of the Father

Jesus promised us eternal life

Jesus’ anointing teaches us

Jesus’ anointing teaches us about all things

Jesus’ anointing is real

Jesus’ anointing teaches us to remain in him

Jesus is in whom we are to continue

Jesus will appear

Jesus is coming

Jesus is righteous

Jesus is he of whom is born all who do what is right

So, how do we know what is true to God’s nature? How do we know the truth about Jesus? We know it by reading and studying our Bible. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me....” John 5:39 NIV

There are many who revere Jesus. Even Muslims believe him to be a great prophet. But how many acknowledge him to be the Messiah? The Son of God? The only Way to God? Even so-called Christians don’t always. We need to guard ourselves and, as Chambers says, “Living much in the presence of Jesus, coming in contact with His mind....”

Lord, it is so easy to take my beliefs about you from things I hear or read outside the Bible—there are so many good books and so many eloquent speakers who make a lot of sense and who are greatly respected. Keep me in your Scriptures, your Holy Word, so that I know the truth about you despite what others might say. I want to live in your presence, Jesus, and stay in contact with your mind. I want to know the Father through you and through nothing else. Help me guard my mind from pretty beliefs that don’t concur with your Word.

*All non-biblical quotes are from “How to Think about the Lord Jesus Christ,” in “Biblical Ethics,” in The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers pages 126, 127.

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